Raising Resilience

Pam Ressler talks with Jon Gay, executive director of The Children's Room on the unique aspect of children's grief and how peer to peer support can help build resilience.

Pam Ressler, founder of Stress Resources, and Lisa Mijares discuss yoga for golfers

The writer Joan Didion opines — “we tell ourselves stories in order to live”. When one is in the depths of a health crisis stories matter as a way to gain hope, healing, and understanding. Research has suggested that writing about our experiences, in the form of journaling, may be helpful in managing our stress and building resilience. In this episode of Raising Resilience, Pam Ressler speaks with author Faith Wilcox about hope and healing through journaling in pediatric intensive care units.A longtime resident of greater Boston, Faith leads a journal writing program, Journals of Hope, at MassGeneral Hospital for Children for patients and their families designed to give participants the opportunity to express themselves, alleviate stress, celebrate victories, and honor their grief. As co-chair of MassGeneral Hospital for Children’s Family Advisory Council, she works with parents and medical staff to improve the lives of patients and their families. Faith believes that self-expression through writing leads to healing. Her writing is reflective of a growing body of medical research about “narrative identity,” which illuminates that how we make sense of what happens to us and the meaning we give to experiences beyond our control directly impact our physical and psychological outcomes. Faith learned these truths firsthand when her thirteen-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer that took her life. Faith’s journey from grief and despair to moments of comfort and peace taught her life-affirming lessons, which she shares today through her writing. Faith is the author of Hope Is A Bright Star: A Mother’s Memoir of Love, Loss, and Learning to Live Again that will be published in June 2021. Faith is also the author of Facing Into The Wind: A Mother’s Healing After the Death of Her Child, a book of poetry.

Nurses are the largest sector of the healthcare professions — with over 4 million nurses in the United States and more than 20 million nurses worldwide. As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept into our lives over the past year, nurses have played an ever more important role in the health and wellness of our nation and the world. However, nurses are also the canaries in the coal mine of healthcare — sounding the alarm on the impact of the pandemic on stress and resilience among our healthcare professionals. It is essential that those who care for us also have the tools and resources to care for themselves. The American Nurses Association stepped up, even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, to offer innovative tools for nurses and non-nurses to focus on their own health and wellness — from a holistic standpoint of body, mind and spirit. As the pandemic has continued to rage on, these tools and resources are even more necessary and helpful. During this episode of Raising Resilience, Holly Carpenter, BSN, RN, Senior Policy Advisor for the American Nurses Association’s Nursing Practice and Work Environment Department, joins Pam Ressler in discussing:* The unique stressors nurses are now facing* Ways to build resilience during challenging times* Resources to address stress, wellness and resilience for nurses and othersHere are links to the free resources that are discussed during this episode of Raising Resilience:Healthy Nurse, Healthy NationThe Well-Being InitiativeANA Nurse Suicide Prevention/ResilienceANA COVID-19 Video Education Series

In this episode of Raising Resilience, we are going to talk golf and resilience. It is a topic near and dear to my heart as a relatively new golfer, but one who has embraced the challenge and seen the similarities between my training in mindfulness and meditation the game of golf. Golf guru Jim Flick one said, “Golf is 90 percent mental, and the other 10 percent is ….mental”. The game of golf and the golf course can be an intimidating environment for many women, especially for those who did not learn to play golf as young girls. That is why I find Lynn Cotter’s online presence such a welcome, encouraging voice for women and girls navigating the game of golf with confidence and….resilience.Here is a bit about my guest on this episode of Raising Resilience, Lynn Cotter — Lynn is an avid golfer who has a passion for the game and instilling confidence in girls and women learning to navigate the game of golf. Last year she launched a website and blog, LynnOnTheLinks.com and recently began a Facebook group, Beginner Golf for Women, that has already garnered hundreds of followers. Lynn is. frequent contributor to NewEngland.Golf and GolfCritique.com and is a member of Golf Writers Association of America. She is a member of the LPGA Amateurs and Women on Course in the Boston, MA area.